Teen accused of dropping her baby out window raised in strict home

Cook County sheriff's office

Mubashra Uddin, 19, has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail. She is accused of dropping her newborn infant from the eighth-story window of an apartment building in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood on Nov. 11, 2015. The baby girl died.

Mubashra Uddin, 19, has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail. She is accused of dropping her newborn infant from the eighth-story window of an apartment building in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood on Nov. 11, 2015. The baby girl died. (Cook County sheriff's office)

Uddin, now a 19-year-old student at DeVry University, found out she was pregnant in February but told only her boyfriend and one other friend, Cook County prosecutors and her attorney said.

Her friends, teachers and relatives are now wondering how the sweet, intelligent, sometimes timid teen could end up charged with first-degree murder, accused of holding her newborn daughter out of her bedroom window and dropping her eight stories to her death.

The newborn suffered mortal injuries, including a fractured spine and skull, broken ribs and a lacerated aorta and liver, prosecutors said.

"The act of dropping a newborn out of an eighth-story window to its eventual death is exceedingly evil, exceedingly cruel," Judge James Brown said Thursday as he ordered Uddin held without bail.

Many unanswered questions remain about the baby's death, including how no one in the small three-bedroom apartment — including an 11-year-old sister who normally shared a bed with Uddin — heard the young woman giving birth on Nov. 11.

Anthony Souffle / Chicago Tribune

Stuffed animals, flowers, and cards surround a tree Nov. 14, 2015, in the grassy area where prosecutors say Mubashra Uddin, 19, dropped her newborn girl from an eighth-floor apartment window late Nov. 11, 2015. The baby was killed. The incident occured in the 800 block of West Eastwood Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.

Stuffed animals, flowers, and cards surround a tree Nov. 14, 2015, in the grassy area where prosecutors say Mubashra Uddin, 19, dropped her newborn girl from an eighth-floor apartment window late Nov. 11, 2015. The baby was killed. The incident occured in the 800 block of West Eastwood Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.

(Anthony Souffle / Chicago Tribune)

Prosecutors have said that Uddin did not tell her family she was pregnant because she knew her Muslim parents would not approve.

"With all her family has put her through, I'm surprised she didn't jump out of the window herself," said the mother of Uddin's former boyfriend, who asked not to be identified in order to keep her son's identity secret.

In seeking her release on bail, Uddin's attorneys filed some letters in her support.

"Sometimes she felt under pressure to be this perfect daughter ... even pressure to be this perfect Muslim woman that prayed, fasted, was humble and also didn't make mistakes," a longtime friend, identified only as "Nina O.," wrote to the judge.

Uddin loved babies, according to family and friends.

Prosecutor Patrick Turnock said that shortly after giving birth to a 7-pound, 12-ounce baby girl in her bedroom, Uddin heard her mother walking toward her room and dropped the baby out of the window.

Police began canvassing the apartment building after a witness found the baby — still alive — wrapped her in his shirt and two blankets he retrieved from his home and called 911, prosecutors said.

The girl was taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital, where she died early Thursday from her massive injuries, prosecutors said.

Investigators learned that Uddin may have been pregnant and that her apartment was directly above the grassy area in the 800 block of West Eastwood Avenue where the baby was found, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that after she admitted guilt, police searched her home and found bloody sheets, bloody scissors and blood on the floor next to her bed, as well as near and on the window.

One of Uddin's attorneys, Adam Sheppard said his team will investigate the possibility the baby's death was an accident, noting that nothing in the prosecutor's version of events precluded that.

"It's premature to assign a premeditated intent to kill in this case," he said.

He said his client is being treated for depression at the Cook County jail and he expects to later file a motion asking a judge to review her bond.

A version of this article appeared in print on November 20, 2015, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Teen charged in death of her newborn - Murder suspect accused of dropping baby from 8th floor" —
Today's paperToday's paper | Subscribe